Succulent Roast Chicken

A few weeks ago, Heather and I threw together a bunch of ingredients we had in the house to roast a chicken.  We found some chickens at Whole Foods that are pasture raised, and aren’t horribly expensive, so we decided to put together a quick dinner.  We threw the picture out on Instagram, and someone on our Facebook page asked for a recipe.  

We hadn’t planned on it at all, but as luck would have it, this was an awesome chicken.  I’m really glad this request forced us to remake the chicken because it was awesome.  I think this will be one of our go to recipes for a long time.

Ingredients
4 lb chicken
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/4 medium white onion
2 cloves garlic, pressed
4 carrots, peeled and cut (2 chopped, 2 finely diced)
4 C Brussels sprouts
1/2 lemon (we used a Meyer lemon)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sage
salt and pepper to taste

Method

Prepare half of a lemon, 2 cloves garlic, onion, carrots, and celery for stuffing the chicken.  Preheat oven to 425ºF.

Prepare carrots and Brussels sprouts in a bowl, and toss with salt and sage.

Seal cavity of chicken with a pin, and then rub down with olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.  Place chicken in your dutch oven.

Surround chicken with carrots and Brussels sprouts.  Place in oven for 15 minutes.

Reduce heat to 375ºF and cook for another 30 minutes.  Your chicken should reach an internal temperature of at least 160ºF before you remove it from the oven.

This was one of the juiciest chickens I’ve ever had.  We were fortunate enough to eat off of this for a few days, and then make a stock from the carcass once we carved off all the meat we could.  I can’t recommend this highly enough.  If you make it and feel the same way (or disagree!), let us know on Facebook, twitter, or in the comments below!